North Korea said Monday that while it views the U.S. decision to postpone joint military drills with South Korea as "positive," the adoption of a U.N. resolution criticizing the North's human rights record has soured its desire to have denuclearization talks with Washington.
"The U.S. dreams of bringing down our system when the DPRK-U.S. dialogue is on a high agenda, which shows that the U.S. has no intention to sincerely work with us towards the settlement of issues," a statement from North Korea's Foreign Ministry spokesman said. "Therefore, we have no willingness to meet such a dialogue partner."
The DPRK is the acronym for North Korea's official name in English ” the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
The United States was one of dozens of countries to co-sponsor the resolution on North Korea's human rights situation in the U.N. General Assembly committee that deals with human rights. It was adopted by consensus last Thursday and included urging the U.N. Security Council to consider further sanctions targeting those in North Korea responsible for rights abuses, and urging the council to refer Pyongyang to the International Criminal Court.
North Korea on Monday said the U.S. had made "another political provocation" by supporting the resolution.
The resolution has become an annual exercise, and in a departure from past years, South Korea did not join as a co-sponsor. In a statement, the Foreign Ministry said it had taken into consideration the "overall circumstances, such as the current situation on the Korean Peninsula," in making its decision, but its efforts to improve human rights conditions there remain unchanged. The committee resolution is expected to be passed in the full General Assembly next month.
Source : VOA
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